Manufacture of pile fabrics



MANUFACTURE OF FILE FABRICS Filed Feb. 10, 1947 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/Gl.

- Inventor CHARLES PATRICK CRQSSL EY :lllomqys Nov. 15, 1949 c. P. cRossLE'Y 2,488,004

MANUFACTURE OF FILE FABRICS Filed Feb. 10, 194? 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor (HARLES PATRICK CROSSLEY M- 7 w I! a as In :1 Horneys 6 Sheets-Sheet 5' In venlor Attorneys Nov. 15, 1949 c. P. cRossLEY MANUFACTURE OF PIL E FABRICS Filed Feb. 10, 1947 Nov. 15, 1949 c. P. CROSSLEY 2,438,004

MANUFACTURE OF FILE FABRICS Filed Feb. 10, 1947 e SheeCs-Sheet 4 Inventor CHARLES PATRICK CROSSLEY y A jwim Jo-we/rnim.

Attorneys Nov. 15, 1949 cfPhcRossLEY 2,488,004

MANUFACTURE OF ,PILE FABRICS Filed Feb. 10, 1947 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor CHARLES PATRICK CROS SLEY A llorneys Nov. 15, 1949 c. P. cRossLEY 88,004

MANUFACTURE OF FILE mamas Filed Feb. 10,4947 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Inventor CHARLES. PATRICK CROSSLEY p By P Jwzw-mwmn w Alto,- eyS Patented Nov. 15,1949

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,488,004 MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRICS Charles Patrick Crossley, Halifax, England Application February 10, 1947, Serial No. 727,514 In Great Britain January 1'7, 1947 another by folding mechanism operable to press a the pile elements into spaces formed between a series of wires arranged sufficiently close to one another that the elements when pressed into the spaces between adjacent wires form the exposed ends of the folds into a substantially continuous surface.

The object of the present invention is to simplify the arrangement of the wires employed in the formation of the folds in such a manner that the manufacture of the complete fabric producing machine is facilitated, its cost of production reduced and time of stoppages occasioned by damage to the wires greatly reduced.

According to the present invention there is provided a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, wherein any one of the wires of a plurality of wires forming the spaces into which the pile elements are pressed to form a fold is mounted upon a supporting member so as to be removable therefrom and a substitute replaceable therefor without of necessity disturbing any more than at the most the next adjacent wire.

The invention will scribed with reference ings, in which: 7

Figure 1 illustrates in sectional elevation a be more particularly deto the accompanying drawmechanism constructed to form pile elements into folds and deliver the same in readiness to be adhesively secured to a backing;

Figure 2 illustrates on an enlarged scale folding mechanism operable to press pile elements into the spaces formed between a series of wires;

Figure 3 illustrates on an enlarged scale to Figure 2 the formation of pile elements into a series of folds arranged sufficiently close to one another that the exposed ends of the folds form a substantially continuous surface;

Figure 4 illustrates on an enlarged scale a modified construction of part of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1; V

Figure 5 illustrates on an enlarged scale the manner in which a series of wires are secured into bundles with the wires maintained sufficiently close to one another that when, the pile elements 8 Claims; (Cl. 15471.1)

the drum I so as to keep The surface of the drum are pressed into the spaces between adjacent wires, the exposed ends of the folds are formed into a substantially continuous surface; 1

Figures 6 and '7 illustrate two constructions in accordance with the present invention, whereby in the case of Figure 6, any pair of the wires and in the case of Figure '7, any one of the wires of 'a plurality of wires forming the spaces into which the pile elements are pressed to form a fold, are mounted upon a supporting member so as to be removable therefrom and a substitute replaceable therefor without of necessity disturbing any more than at the most the next adjacent wire; and Figures 8 and 8 illustrate part sectional side and end elevations of a drum constructed so as to permit the surface thereof to be provided with milled grooves in which wires can be mounted in accordance with the present invention and particularly in the manner illustrated in Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a mechanism which comprises a drum 1, which is cast so as to provide in the periphery thereof steam chambers 2 which extend around the drum. The steam chambers 2 are connected to conduits 3 arranged in communication with a conduit 4 which communicates with a steam passage 5 formed axially in a shaft 6 rotatable in bearings 1 and 8. The above construction permits steam to be admitted axially of a constant supply of steam fed to the steam chambers 2, the steam being exhausted through conduits 9 and 10 into a second axial-passage ll formed in the shaft 6. l is, in accordance with the above construction, maintained at a desired temperature.

Referring particularly to Figure 2, there is mounted upon the surf-ace of the drum' l a series of wires I2, the construction of which will be more particularly described with reference to Figure 5. The wires I2 are mounted on the drum I so that the wires are arranged sufficiently close to one another that when pile elements l3 (such as fibres in the form of a batt) are pressed into the spaces between adjacent wires l2 (Figure 3) the exposed ends M of the folds are formed into a substantially continuous surface. The pile elements it (Figure 3) are pressed into the spaces formed between adjacent wires by a folding mechanism (Figure 2) operable periodically to move reciprocal blades I5 and |5 (Figure 3) downwardly so as to press the pile elements l3 between a pair of wires so as to form folds between adjacent wires in the manner indicated in Figure 3. The folds, formed between the adjacent wires l2. are moved forwardly as the drum l rotates, bringing the exposed ends It of the folds beneath a roller it (Figure 1) operable to spread an adhesive, for example unvulcanised rubber, upon the exposed ends I4 of the said folds. The drum thereafter carries the exposed ends M of the folds coated with adhesive to a backing and the backing andthe exposed ends of the folds are subjected to heat both internally through the drum and externally through steam heated plattens l so as to vulcanise the rubber solution and cause the backing to adhere to the exposed ends 14 of the folds. from the drum whereupon the folds of pile elements are drawn from the adjacent spaces between the wires so as to freethe wires and permit the same to rotate once again with a supply of pile elements beneath the folding mechanism illustrated in Figure 2, thereby providing a continuous method of manufacturing a pile fabric.

It will be appreciated that certain details such for example as cropping have been omitted as it is assumed that the general method and means outlined above is sufficiently well known in detail in the art as not to necessitate a specific description of the fabric or the mechanism at present employed in manufacturing the same.

Ithas been found in practice that in spite of the most careful treatment, foreign elements are liable to find their way into the batt so that when the reciprocating blades of the folding mechanism move downwardly a wire is damaged.

Once a wire is damaged it is necessary to stop the machine and either repair the damaged wire or wires or, if damaged beyond repair, to remove the wire or wires and replace it or them by a new wire or wires.

Withthe machine at present employed in the manufacture of pile fabrics of the above character, the wires are constructed in the manner illustrated in Figure 5, namely by a series for example 12 wires being mounted with spacing elements l8 disposed between adjacent wires and the whole drawn up by a screw l9 so as to form the wires into a fbundlei Each bundle of wires extends across the full width of the drum, and each wire is approximately /40 of an inch thick and the distance between adjacent pairs of wires is little over 1' 6 of an inch.

The bundles of Wires are secured to the surface of the drum I byjmeans of bolts 29 (Figure'2) which extend through the periphery of the drum at those portions thereof where there is no steam chamber. The bolts engage with a series of slots 2| (Figure formed in the underside of the bundle of wires and by screwing up the nuts 20 abundle of wires is firmly clamped upon the surface of the drum.

It will be appreciated that with the construction illustrated in Figure 1, when a wire or wires becomes or become damaged, the machine has to be stopped and allowed to cool down to such an extent as to permit an operator to climb into the interior thereof, disconnect the appropriate bundle of Wires by loosening the nuts 2% of the bolts 2!] which extend through into the interior of the drum and thereafter replace the bundle of wires in Which one Or more wires is or are damaged by a new bundle of wires. The new bundle of wires then has to be bolted down upon the surface of the drum, whereupon steam can once again be admitted to the steam chambers and only after the drum has reached the desired temperature can the operation of the machine be recommended. It is found in practice that the The backing is thereafter led away It will be appreciated .4 stoppage necessary for replacing a wire considerably reduces the efficiency of a machine and it will be appreciated that if a more simple method of attaching the wires to the drum could be devised the efficiency of the machine would be considerably enhanced.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, there are illustrated, according to the present invention, two methods of obviating the disadvantages inherent in existing machines.

Figure 6 illustrates a portion of the surface of a drum wherein the wires I 2 are of U-form and are mounted upon the surface of the drum by milling grooves into the surface thereof and thereaftercaulking the wires into the surface of the drum by means of, for example, copper caulking 22.

With a construction of the character illustrated in Figure 6, it will be observed that if one of the wires is damaged during the operation of the machine, it is only necessary to remove both the'caulking'zz and the damaged wire and replace the wire by a new one and recaulk the new Wire in position.

It will be appreciated that although the wires illustrated in Figure 6 are of U-formation, they could be constructedas independent wires.

In order to employ the principle underlying the present invention upon existing machines in which the drums are constructed so as to employ bundles of wires such for example as the machine illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the wires are mounted in asupporting member 23 (Figure 7) which is of similar-cross-section to the lower portion of the bundle of wires illustrated in Figure 5. The supporting member 23, however, comprises a singlepiece of material as distinct from the laminated construction of the lower portion of Figure 5. The wires l2 are held in the sup.- porting member 23 by means of the caulking 22 in-a manner similar to that illustrated in Figure 6.

that although the bunin Figure 7 will be atmeans of bolts extending dle of wires illustrated tached to the drum by through the drum in the same manner in which the bundles of wires illustratedin Figure 5 are, according to existing practice, attached to the drum; nevertheless a construction in accordance with the present invention presents the distinct advantage over the existing practice inasmuch as when it becomes necessary to replace a damaged wire it is not essential to remove the whole bundle, which includes the damaged wire; it sufiices to remove the caulking Which is holding the damaged wire in position an subs i u e a n w ir for the damaged one. A

7 Thus it will be seen that ac ording to t p en invention here is Provided a metho f mounting the wir s i a. mac in or p u in pile fabrics of the character hereinbefore referred to, wherein any one of the wires of a plurality of wires forming the spaces into which the pile elements are pressed to form a fold is mounted upon the supporting member (whether that member be the drum itself or a member securable to the drum) so as to be removable from the supporting member and a substitute replaced therefor without disturbing any more than at the most the next adjacent wire. It will be appreciated that where the wires areof U-formation the next adjacent wire must be removed with the damaged wire and alsoin cases where the wires are separate it may provesimpler to remove a pair of adjacent wires, and caulk in a new pair than to remove one wire and insert a new one in its place.

It will be appreciated that the invention above referred to is particularly applicable to wires mounted upon drums but it is to be understood that it is not limited to drums and can be employed upon a machine employing a flat bed which is movable beneath a folding member.

Referring to the known construction of machine (Figure 1), where the wires are mounted in bundles upon the surface of the drum with the bolts extending through the wall of the drum at those portions thereof disposed between the steam chambers, it will bereadily appreciated that in the example illustrated in-Figure 1, the drum is formed from cast iron and the metal, which is liable to be of a porous character, permits steam to penetrate to the fabric as it is being formed. In a modified construction of drum illustrated in Figure 4, a steel drum l was formed, from which the steam chambers 2 are cut out from the inner surface. The chambers 2 are closed by steel plates 24 which are secured to the side walls of the chambers 2 by welding. The drum I is then shrunk upon an inner drum 25 and bolts (not shown) are arranged to extend through the drum at points between the steam chambers 2 in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The steam is fed to the inlets 2B in a manner similar to that described with reference to Figure 1.

It has been found in practice that although the steel drum l is non-porous there is a tendency for the welded joints of the plates 24 to break down and for steam to pass from the chambers 2 through the bolt holes 21 to the pile fabric.

It will be seen that in accordance with the embodiment of thepresent invention in which the surface of the drum is milled and the wires (whether as individual wires or as shaped wires) are caulked into'milled grooves formed in the surface of the drum, the efliciency of the machine is not only considerably improved from the point of view of each replacement of the wires when one becomes damaged, but the method of securing the wires, in accordance with the present invention, into the surface of a steam tight drum, enables the construction of the drum to be considerably simplified as, for example, in the manner illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, from which it will be observed that steam can be admitted to the whole of the interior of the drum from the centre of the shaft, thereby avoiding the complicated construction of drum illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, which involves the formation of steam chambers and at the same time ensures that steam cannot pass from the interior of the drum through the cylindrical surface thereof to the fabric as it is being produced.

Further it will be appreciated that with the construction of the drum illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, if only a single wire is damaged the amount of work involved in replacing it and the necessary period of stoppage involved is the same as if a complete bundle were damaged, whereas according to the present invention, if a single wire is damaged, it can be replaced in an extremely simple manner involving the minimum amount of stoppage.

It will be appreciated from Figures 8 and 9 by any one skilled in the art, that the cost of production of the drum necessary in the case where the wires are mounted in milled recesses formed in the surface of the drum, is considerably reduced, whilst at the same time the eificiency of the machine is considerably enhanced.

6. What I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a cylindrical drum, a series of wires mounted on the surface of said drum parallel with the axis thereof, said fwires being mounted in a series of milled grooves and held in correct spaced relationship to one another by means of detachable packing filling said grooves.

2. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a drum provided with steam chambers, means for supplying steam to said chambers, -a supporting member having grooves provided in the outer surface thereof, fastening means for fastening the said supporting member to said drum, said fastening means including bolts extending through the surface of the drum clear of the said steam chambers, a series of wires mounted in said grooves, and packing material exchangeably holding said wires in said grooves.

3. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a drum comprising an unbroken surface with grooves provided therein, a series of wires mounted in said grooves and disposed parallel with the axis of said drum, packing material for detachably holding the said wires in the said grooves, and means for supplying steam to the unbroken interior surface of the said drum.

4. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a drum comprising an unbroken cylindrical surface with U-shaped grooves provided therein, a series of wires of U-cross section mounted in said U-shaped grooves, said wires being disposed parallel with the axis of said drum, and packing material holding said wires in the said grooves and being removable therefrom to allow exchange of said wires individually and independently of each other.

5. A machine for manufacturing pile fabrics which comprises in combination, a rotatable body having grooves provided at the outer surface thereof and arranged parallel to the axis of rotation of said body, wires arranged in pairs, with each groove containing only one of said pairs, and holding means individually and detachably arranged between the wires of each pair, thereby allowing the removal of each pair of wires individually without affecting the other pairs.

6. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a movable supporting member provided with a plurality of grooves substantially parallel to each other, a series of wires mounted in said grooves, detachable packing material associated with said wires for detachably holding said wires in said grooves, and a folding mechanism adjacent said supporting member and operable to extend periodically into spaces formed between the said wires.

'7. In a machine for manufacturing pile fabrics of the type specified, a rotatable cylindrical drum, supporting means mounted on said drum and provided with a plurality of grooves substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said drum, means for connecting said supporting means to said drum, a series of wires mounted in said grooves, packing material associated with said wires for detachably holding said wires in said grooves to allow the exchange of each wire without disturbing more than the next adjacent wire, and folding means adjacent said supporting means and operable periodically and temporarily to enter spaces between said. wires.

8. In a:. machinefor manufacturing pile. fabrics of the type specified. movable means operable tomove m a predetermined direction, a supporting member for said movablemeans, means for connecting said supporting member to said movable means, said supporting member being provided with a.- plurality of grooves substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the direction'of movement of said movable means, a plurality of wires mounted in said grooves, packing material. detachably associated with said wires for exchangeably holding said wires in said grooves so as to allow replacement of a wire without disturbing more than the next &

adjaoent wire and folding means.- adjacent said supporting member and operable temporarily to- Number Name Date 754,195 Bullard' Mar. 8, 1.90% 117843552 Smitlret al. Dec. 9, I930: 2-,379g8'79i Bronander July 10, 19451 

